IEEE 802.1Q Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) tagging is a mechanism for logically grouping devices that are physically networked on a single Local Area Network (LAN) into different VLANs. As a result of this separation, devices in different VLANs cannot directly communicate with each other at the Ethernet or Media Access Control (MAC) layer. That is, VLAN tagging makes it appear as if the devices are on different MAC layer networks, despite the fact that they exist on a single MAC layer network.